Ghostbusters: Director Paul Feig Reveals Action Figure Prototypes

Ghostbusters is about to become a household name again next summer, with a reboot of the franchise that features an all-new main cast. The $150 million dollar supernatural comedy thriller has met with a plethora of online controversy and strife, with moviegoers split on their feelings about the film’s direction and new all-women cast. All this before the first teaser trailer has even been released!

Now the film’s co-screenwriter and director, Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy) surprise revealed the prototypes for an upcoming set of figures from Mattel based on his all-new team of Ghostbusters that are taking the reigns of the franchise in summer of 2016. There is no word about the cost or release date of the action figures, though.

These action figures are a landmark of progress for collectors of Ghostbusters merchandise. After all, these are the very first Ghostbusters movie action figures to be released in conjunction with the actual film they are based on. The first time fans could purchase Ghostbusters figures based on the 1984 or 1989 films wasn’t until Mattel picked-up the license in 2009 and began releasing figures on their online adult collector website, MattyCollector.com.

On that note – you can check out the Ghostbusters figure prototypes, below:

Paul Feig’s tweet didn’t indicate a cost for the action figures, but if history dictates anything, then they should be around $20 each, plus shipping. There is no word yet on whether Mattel will offer them as individual figures or as a 4-pack set. There was also no indication whether they would be online only exclusives or if they’d hit store shelves. Certain examples of the Mattel Ghostbusters action figures have seen limited release at stores like Toys ‘R Us and Big Lots.

The reveal of the action figures was immediately met with a mix of positive and negative reactions from fans. There is a movement within the Ghostbusters fan community that seems to think that the magic of the original film was based on the gender of the actors, rather than the level of their talent. The cast of the new reboot film, which includes Melissa McCarthy (Spy), Kristen Wiig (The Martian), Leslie Jones (SNL) and Kate McKinnon (Sisters) are a fantastic sampling of some of the best comedic actors that we have available today. The work that Wiig and McCarthy did with Feig on the 2011 comedic hit Bridesmaids gave the film a whopping 90% score on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer.

Interestingly, this new film is a test to see if the concept of Ghostbusters can prove itself to be a lasting imprint on culture, rather than just a brief moment in time. We had a drought of anything Ghostbusters throughout most of the 1990s, until the 1997 Extreme Ghostbusters cartoon was tried out and wasn’t met with the reception that it was hoping for, lasting only one season. Since that time we have had huge mainstream reboots of the Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and G.I. Joeand yet a distinct lack of any showing from a popular series like the Ghostbusters.

The immediate future of the Ghostbusters property will hinge on the release of Feig’s movie, a fact that all fans should be able to come together on and give their tentative support, and let the film stand on its own two feet. We can only hope that the Ghostbusters reboot doesn’t meet the same fate as the Jem and the Holograms movie, based on the 1980s Hasbro doll line.